Page 12 of The Billionaire's Kiss
Orla wasn’t slim or trim. Her shoulders weren’t narrow, nor too wide, but just wide enough. She wasn’t short either, but neither was she tall. She was the perfect average height. But other than that, there was nothing average about her.
Her dark green dress hung all the way to her ankles, covering her body but not doing anything to hide her curves. Daring, provocative, deadly curves that made my hands itch to run them over every single rounded place of her body.
Earlier, when her group had first come into the lobby, she’d had on a cream-colored sweater with blue jeans and flats. It hadn’t done her voluptuous figure justice the way the flowing dress did. The dress hugged her in all the right ways.
Looking all the way down to her shoes, I wasn’t surprised to find low heeled pumps. A woman who stood on her feet long hours tending a bar wouldn’t wear shoes that might hurt them.
“Did you get enough rest to get rid of the jetlag?” I asked, certain that she’d been suffering that pesky ailment, as anyone would after a long flight.
“I slept all day.” She shook her head as her brow furrowed. “I hadn’t meant nor wanted to sleep so long. I don’t want to waste my time here. I want to make the most of each day, especially since I only have seven nights.”
“Stay longer,” I said abruptly. For some reason, I didn’t want this near-stranger to leave. “I can comp the room for as many nights as you’d like. I mean that. If you teach our bartenders one new cocktail a day, I can make that happen for you.” Hell, I could put her on as one of our bartenders, for that matter. But I didn’t tell her that, as I knew that was moving way too fast.
A weak smile told me she wouldn’t be staying on. “Warner, I only take a week’s vacation once a year. I couldn’t leave my manager high and dry. It wouldn’t be fair to the other staff members if I did something like that without notice. And my parents will surely miss seeing my face in a week’s time. I spend Sundays at their house, helping Mum with chores, so she doesn’t have to do them by herself. She’s getting up there in years and has arthritis, which makes things hard for her.”
“You sound as busy as I do.” I had to get it through my head that if she and I had anything, it would be short-lived—like, amazingly short-lived. I’d been happy with that at first. Why that was changing all of a sudden mystified me.
This isn’t going to work, for neither of us. It just isn’t meant to be.
“Well, I’m not busy this week.” She took the last sip of her drink, then put the empty glass down. “I’m not about to sit around here either. The resort is lovely, but this is just my nest. I’ve gotta fly out of it each day before coming back each night and sleeping a bit. Then off to my next adventure in the morning.”
“You have an enviable way of looking at life, Orla Quinn.”
“Do I?” She shook her head as if she didn’t agree. “I look at life for what it is, Warner. We are born, and for a little while, we’re stuck to our mother as a means for survival. And then, one day, we can walk, and we don’t just walk, we run. We run and run until we drop from exhaustion, then we sleep. And when we wake up, we’re running again.”
“That’s true. I suppose that’s true of most babies and little kids.” But I’d never looked at things like that, not even once in my life.
“Why do you think we run from the one who has not only protected us but fed us and nurtured us, rocked us to sleep?” she asked me with a serious expression.
I had to think about it for a moment, as I didn’t know what she was getting at. And she patiently waited for me to think, which was sort of amazing to me. As the wheels in my head clicked into place, I said, “I suppose we run from our mothers because we inherently seek adventure, and safety is the last place you will find that sort of thing.”
A smile lit up her face. “Aye. I like that you thought about that instead of just blowing it off the way many people would. That tells a lot about a person when they take the time to contemplate something.”
“I have to admit that this is the first time in a long time that I’ve done that.” Laughing, I couldn’t believe how incredible she was. “You’re something. Do you know that? You are really something.”
“I try to be.”
My plan had been to take a page out of my brother’s book and play it cool with this woman. And the first ploy had worked like magic. She had come to me. Although it had been indirectly, she’d still come to me. But Orla was genuine and real. And people like that weren’t the type you should try to play games with. It was obvious that she would only find the games unattractive and even idiotic. She would think I was a bore, as any Irish lasses would say.
“Alright, I’m gonna come right out and say this to you, Orla Quinn. I like you.” It felt good to speak the truth to her. “And I’ve got more to say.”
“Well, can I tell you that I like you too before you give your speech?” Her laughter filled my heart.
I knew getting to know this woman would be worthwhile, if only I gave myself the time to do it. She lived life in a way that I’d never contemplated. This was a rare gift, her coming to my part of the world. I’d be a fool not to accept that gift and give it as much of my attention as possible.
“No speech, I promise. But I would like to be honest with you. I’d like to spend more time with you while you’re here. You make me think about things differently. I had no idea I would even like something like that, but I do. I like it very much.” Something similar to an electric current sizzled through me as I thought about spending time with her.
Did I want to have sex with her? Well, of course I did. But I wanted more than that. I wanted to get to know her, and I wanted some of her spiritedness to rub off on me. She was that rare of a person—at least, to me, she was.
“I think I would like spending time with you too, Warner.” Her eyes glistened as she smiled at me. “So I guess we’ll see how much time we get to spend together with that busy schedule of yours.”
My schedule was busy; she was right about that. But I could figure things out for a week if I put my mind to it. “I’ll deal with that. I’ll free up my time.”
It felt amazing to have someone who I wanted to be around. And by the way my heart sped up, I knew that it, too, had missed this feeling. I wasn’t sure how I would feel when the time for her to leave would come, but at least I was giving it a good try for once.
Maybe this would be a turning point for me where women were concerned. Maybe Orla would open up a door that had been nailed shut for far too long. The main thing was that I now had some hope for a future with love in it. Even if that love couldn’t be with the fascinating woman who sat in front of me. At least there was that light at the end of the tunnel, where none had been before.
“I’ve got something to look forward to now, Warner. Thank you.”
“Why don’t we start right away? No use in putting things off.” We didn’t have much time anyway. “I’d like to take you down Sixth Street tonight if you’re up for it.”
“I’m up for it.” She hopped off the barstool. “Let me get my purse from my room, and I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
“It’s a date,” I smiled, hoping my heart wouldn’t get smashed into pieces by the end of the week.
